Ordinarily, wound label stock includes a printable substrate such as paper or plastic having a first face exposed for printing and a second face at least partially covered by an adhesive, such as a pressure-sensitive adhesive. A liner having a release surface separates the adhesive from the substrate while the label stock is wound into a roll. After printing and die cutting, individual labels are removed from the liner for use. The liner is discarded.
Disposal of the liners can be a significant problem because most liners do not readily degrade. Special treatments needed to dispose of the liners add cost to the labels. In addition, the liners increase thickness of the label stock, thereby reducing the number of winds in a given diameter roll; and this reduces the number of labels that can be printed from a given diameter roll.
Writeable adhesive tapes are also known which include a substrate coated on one side with an adhesive and on an opposite side with a special release coating that can receive ink or other marking substances. However the special release coatings can add cost to the tapes, and the markings can be less permanent than desired.